For a properly working TiVo boot time should never be much of a problem, not the same as a computer. I don't think TiVo should spend any time reducing the boot time as that will not sell anymore TiVos and it not a feature needed by anybody.

Great in theory, less in the real world. Tivos hang just like everything else, and sometimes need to e rebooted (as workarounds for other bugs)..

and the power goes out. You shouldn't HAVE to have a UPS. (I used to have one, mostly for my XS32, which CAN easily corrupt the hard drive.. battery died, so it ironically wasn't UPSing at all and would beep at ~6:30 AM.)

Great in theory, less in the real world. Tivos hang just like everything else, and sometimes need to e rebooted (as workarounds for other bugs)..

and the power goes out. You shouldn't HAVE to have a UPS. (I used to have one, mostly for my XS32, which CAN easily corrupt the hard drive.. battery died, so it ironically wasn't UPSing at all and would beep at ~6:30 AM.)

Outside of October 2011 (when I lost power for 7 days and made good use of my back up generator) I have a power loss less than once a year, I can handle a 5 min re-boot, if one were having a power loss every week than get a UPS, even a 1 minute re-boot would be a pain every week when your recording/watching. As for hang ups, that also use to happen a few times in a year with xfers using the wireless system, with Moca in the last 6 months I never had any hang-up on my TiVos.

Even if it's flawless I think a UPS is worth it. When lightning blasted the heck out of my house and burned down a fair chunk of it my TiVos survived. I can't say the same for any electronic equipment that wasn't protected.

I also have brownouts and power surges that my UPS kick on to protect my TiVos and other electronic devices. Every weekday morning at 9AM there is a power surge that kicks on all my UPSs.

One time one leg of the local transformer died and for close to ten minutes there was only around 75 volts on the electrical outlets before the transformer finally died. My dozen or so UPS units protected all my electronics during this. Although one or two of my lamps died during the brownout that were not on a UPS and only on a surge protector.

I've been told the slow TiVo boot time comes down to one simple word ...
Linux

Quote:

Originally Posted by stahta01

It would be 10 times slower if windows!

Both these statements are incorrect, IME. My main system is dual-boot. Windows 7 Pro x64, Ubuntu 13.10 Linux x64. Boots in about the same time with either OS. I've got a netbook that is XP x32 and Ubuntu 13.10 x32, and the same thing applies. Both OSes boot in about the same time.

Both these statements are incorrect, IME. My main system is dual-boot. Windows 7 Pro x64, Ubuntu 13.10 Linux x64. Boots in about the same time with either OS. I've got a netbook that is XP x32 and Ubuntu 13.10 x32, and the same thing applies. Both OSes boot in about the same time.

It ain't the fault of the OS.

Please compare the boot time of a custom Linux kernel to a standard Windows kernel!

Edit: The main difference is file checking on the file system; so, compare Windows file checking to Linux file checking!

One thing that slows a TiVo's bootup is the security checks it performs on the root filesystem. It checks for unauthorized modifications to the TiVo software, and will overwrite them with approved software, if detected.

Please compare the boot time of a custom Linux kernel to a standard Windows kernel!

I have compared boot times with custom Linux kernels (which I helped program, specifically drivers) with versions of _embedded_ Windows. When we add needed support features to Linux to match what comes with Windows... yeah, not all that different. Sure, if we compile our Linux kernel disabling a bunch of features we can boot in 1/10 the time of a standard embedded Windows system. But we need those features to make a product. We're not out to evangelisize about an OS. Our product makes us more money if we don't have to pay a license fee to MS. I am guessing the same for Tivo - they don't want to pay $$$/unit to MS when Linux works just as well.

Yeah, as an embedded developer, Android has been likewise a godsend - before that doing a GUI in Linux was generally painful - either you do your own UI system (like TiVo), or try to use X and various libraries.

Embedded Windows makes doing a GUI easy as it comes with it and the development is like normal Windows GUIs.

But then Android came around and changed the rules - doing a GUI in Linux means just putting Android on it. Making it easier is that most SoCs have Android support out of the box (less Linux support other than drivers and command line). Plus doing the GUI now just involves hiring a cheap Android developer - they're much easier to find than Linux GUI developers.

It's also one reason why Android is ported to other platforms - MIPS is common in various markets and it too has Android for the same reason - easy and cheap UI development.

Hey it could be worse. If you used a Tuning Adapter you could add 2.5 minutes for "acquiring channels" (YMMV)

And having a UPS doesn't mean you'll rarely have a reboot if you're on my TWC system with a TA. I have to power cycle the TA and restart the TiVo every several weeks when SDV channels go missing.

Not to mention that the tuning adapter would cause problems constantly, I had 2 of them from Cox. Now going on my third year with Fios, No TA, and no copy 1 flag on any channel like Cox. Not to mention significantly better internet.

Does that mean 2 minutes *to the time it actually is recording*? Like I've said before, my Premiere 4 is way faster than my S3s (OLED & Tivo HD), but those are nowhere near as fast as the S1 in booting.. I know, it didn't have the security verification stuff going on..

and the Premiere 4 starts recording (at least showing the record light on, which I trust is recording) before I can actually use it -- it's showing the "wait" gear for quite a while doing network stuff..

I have the Directv DVR and I've never timed it but could swear it takes closer to 10 minutes to reboot. I finally replaced the battery in my UPS a couple weeks ago so hopefully I won't have that issue for a while.

Does that mean 2 minutes *to the time it actually is recording*? Like I've said before, my Premiere 4 is way faster than my S3s (OLED & Tivo HD), but those are nowhere near as fast as the S1 in booting.. I know, it didn't have the security verification stuff going on..

and the Premiere 4 starts recording (at least showing the record light on, which I trust is recording) before I can actually use it -- it's showing the "wait" gear for quite a while doing network stuff..

Yes. On the Roamio units the HDUI boots up almost instantly. Not like the Premiere units that give you the spinning circle for a minute or so before the UI shows up and it can actually start doing stuff.

Yes. On the Roamio units the HDUI boots up almost instantly. Not like the Premiere units that give you the spinning circle for a minute or so before the UI shows up and it can actually start doing stuff.

I had COX service out to work out a couple of problems. One was installation of a new Roamio. Yes, it is quicker than either the HD's I have or the one Premiere. He said the Roamio was quicker than the standard Cox box.

I'd dispute that "almost instantly". It is faster, but still a few minutes. My linux box with the SSD system disk and fedora 19 takes about 15 or 20 seconds from power up to login prompt, and that seems slow too :-).

OK, yeah, my Premiere 4 crashed last night while I was recording The Simpsons, Once Upon a Time, and The Amazing Race. ONE of them was luckily *mostly* over a commercial break, but I still lost some content.

So this is still one issue about 'consolidating to one unit', but I still think I'll do it. (Consolidate P4 & TivoHD to one Roamio 6 tuner.. Though I MIGHT keep the TivoHD, at least temporarily.)

I'd dispute that "almost instantly". It is faster, but still a few minutes. My linux box with the SSD system disk and fedora 19 takes about 15 or 20 seconds from power up to login prompt, and that seems slow too :-).

I meant once the Roamio boots up the HDUI appears almost instantly. The boot up takes a couple minutes. On the Premiere units the boot up takes like 4-5 minutes and then you get to sit there and look at a spinning circle for another minute while the HDUI boots up. That last part is the part I was referring to being almost instant on the Roamio.